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3Mathematics (of a number) equal to the sum of its positive divisors, e.g. the number 6, whose divisors (1, 2, 3) also add up to 6.

‘In an early number theory paper he proved that there is no odd perfect number with fewer than four distinct prime factors.’

‘Many mathematicians were interested in perfect numbers and tried to contribute to the theory.’

‘The ninth, tenth, and eleventh perfect numbers were found after the twelfth was discovered.’

‘He who affirms that all perfect numbers end with the figure 6 or 8 are right.’

‘Prior to publishing, he also found an upper bound on the least prime divisor of an odd perfect number.’

4Grammar (of a tense) denoting a completed action or a state or habitual action which began in the past. The perfect tense is formed in English with have or has and the past participle, as in they have eaten and they have been eating (present perfect), they had eaten (past perfect), and they will have eaten (future perfect).

‘It has seven vowels, it has no perfect tenses, it is chock-a-block with suffixes and its syntax is baroque.’

‘First, it is relevant to the formation of the perfect tense in many European languages.’

5Botany (of a flower) having both stamens and carpels present and functional.

‘Pistillate flowers are usually smaller than perfect flowers and produce nectar with lower sugar concentration.’

5.1Denoting the stage or state of a fungus in which the sexually produced spores are formed.

5.2Entomology (of an insect) fully adult and (typically) winged.

verb

[with object]

Pronunciation /pəˈfɛkt/

1Make (something) completely free from faults or defects; make as good as possible.

‘he's busy perfecting his bowling technique’

‘A surgeon who has performed operations on different kinds of patients learns and perfects himself experimentally.’

‘Everything possible is being done to perfect plans to avoid a winter crisis, according to North Yorkshire health chiefs.’

‘This procedure involves complete excision of the diverticular sac and has been perfected recently by the use of stapling devices.’

‘Working in the privacy of your own home allows you to develop and perfect your skills.’

‘In it, he argued that people were not prisoners of their own destiny, and that happiness was thus not to be found in simply following one's own inclinations, but in perfecting oneself through active cultivation.’

‘He has polished and perfected it to such a level of sophistication that few may find it easy to master.’

‘She saw each stroke as perfecting herself, not even noticing where the others were.’

‘With this knowledge, he perfected the tendon transplant technique through which he carried out reconstructive surgery on those with damaged hands and feet.’

‘Other students recall that it was when she improved physically that she perfected a glacial superiority that intimidated some of them.’

‘For the past six months the cast of 19 have been perfecting their lines and polishing up on the songs, and he says they are one of the best drama groups he has worked with at the school.’

‘He ran his slender hands through his hair, perfecting his new disheveled look.’

‘What had happened by 1974 was that many of the new technologies of 1944 had been perfected, or at least made cheaper and more reliable.’

‘Engineers had to perfect techniques and improve the organisation of services in order to control operational expenses.’

‘Regardless of where they live, people spend a great deal of time developing and perfecting methods of using weapons for hunting and fighting.’

‘He had studied day and night when he was younger, perfecting each and every spell, until he could defeat anyone who stood in his way.’

‘In the same way, the works a person does for himself are ‘life’ to him insofar as they sustain his life, because he maintains and perfects himself through them.’

‘You see, grace builds upon nature; it doesn't destroy nature, but builds upon it and perfects it.’

‘All of these are unfortunately no more than vague calls for perfecting ourselves.’

‘By these rules he and his disciples have spent about 120 years perfecting the most effective and efficient self-defense system known.’

‘The staff busied itself with perfecting a peacetime organization which meshed closely with the demands of war, so that the chaos of 1870 could never be repeated.’

‘the heap was normally printed as white paper in the morning, turned at the midday break, and perfected in the afternoon’

‘He has since perfected his ‘soft-spoken, man-out-of-place’ style of acting, but here it is very much in test mode.’

‘Having perfected his angsty, sheeny whine, he sounds good, even if he seems to spend most of this album jabbering about how late it is and what the weather's like in some city or other.’

1.3Law Satisfy the necessary conditions or requirements for the transfer of (a gift, title, etc.)

‘equity will not perfect an imperfect gift’

‘It was submitted by the bank before the judge and before this court that, notwithstanding that the garnishee order nisi was not perfected, a genuine belief that the bank was entitled to act as it did was a defence to the claim.’

‘The Order which was perfected requires careful attention, for it says as follows.’

‘The donor, having by then changed his mind, declines to perfect the imperfect gift in favour of the intended donee.’

‘The general rule, as I see it, is that once an order dismissing an appeal has been perfected the court has no jurisdiction to revive the appeal or to allow a fresh appeal to be brought.’

‘The limits of any jurisdiction to vacate orders made and perfected by courts of appeal have not been examined or stated by this Court in the criminal sphere.’

noun

Pronunciation /ˈpəːfɪkt/

the perfectGrammar

The perfect tense.

Origin

Middle English: from Old French perfet, from Latin perfectus ‘completed’, from the verb perficere, from per- ‘through, completely’ + facere ‘do’.